The universities provide other facilities for all students to use, including laboratories, lecture rooms and libraries. Until the 1970s colleges were single-sex, but now all Oxford colleges and almost all Cambridge colleges are mixed. The buildings are often arranged round a quad (= square). Each college has its own teaching and research staff, who are fellows of the college, and its own buildings, including hall (= where members of the college eat), a library, a chapel, and rooms for students to live in during the term. Students are chosen after an interview in the college they want to go to.

Students at Oxford and Cambridge must be accepted at one of around 30 partly independent colleges. To many people, Oxford and Cambridge seem very remote places where only the very privileged can study. The upper class have traditionally sent their children to Oxbridge, and many prime ministers and politicians studied there. Although efforts are made to attract more students from state schools, many of the undergraduates at each university have been educated at independent schools.

An Oxbridge degree makes a good impression with many employers, and graduates of these universities may have an advantage when applying for jobs. They are generally also thought to be the best universities to study at. Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest universities in Britain. Culture Oxbridge Oxbridge Oxbridge is a word made from the names Oxford and Cambridge and is used to refer to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge together.

Cambridge advanced learner?s dictionary